An Author's Guide To Social Media Part 4 of 6: Social Media Accounts to Have

Part IV: Facebook

Author Pages:

On Facebook, a page is exactly what it sounds like; unlike your personal profile, people won’t have to send you a friend request to view this material. Anyone who has a business or professional brand, including authors, should have a Facebook page in addition to his or her profile. This page can be shared to others who aren’t personal friends of yours. This is beneficial because individuals can share posts from this page with their friends, spreading the word more effectively. On your author page, you should include the titles of your books, updates about upcoming events, photos of you and your book covers, and links to your other social media accounts.

Groups:

Facebook groups are a collection of people who support the same cause or are interested in the same subject matter. You should join groups strategically; if you write psychological thrillers, maybe it would be beneficial to join the American Psychological Association Facebook group to stay up-to-date on industry trends. You can post a promotion for your book, along with the cover and link to purchase it, on the group homepage. All members of the group will get a notification and will be able to see the post. Be wary of posting with the intent to sell too much - this will be seen as spam and is unwanted.

Inviting People to Like Your Page:

Be sure to invite anyone you think you will be interested to like your page. This way, you start with a number of likes (even if it’s just your family and friends) to give your page more accountability.